Live To Tell
by Emma Barrows
Summary: Remus has always been shy around girls...but what happens when a Ravenclaw desperately needs his help? Will he be able to help her?
1. Welcome Back!

Live To Tell

Chapter 1-"Welcome Back"

Roselyn Enders was sitting in the compartment aboard the Hogwarts Express. She had her legs crossed and a book lay opened on her lap. Her shoulder length layered dark auburn hair was fluffed around her shoulders and brushed outwards. An opened window next to her caused her hair to flutter gently each time a gust of wind blew in.

Her honey brown eyes were skimming the paragraphs on the page. She was so engrossed in the book that she didn't notice 4 guys entering the compartment. On the seat next to her was her school bag. Several items were poking out, including a quill, ink bottle, and a Potions textbook.

"Mind if we sit with you?" a male voice asked.

She raised her eyes. The guy had untidy black hair and hazel eyes, which were behind a pair of thin black-rimmed glasses. All four guys she realized were in Gryffindor. They were wearing their robes and uniforms.

Roselyn shrugged as it didn't matter to her.

"Thanks," another male said. This guy had short, wavy thick black hair and blue eyes. He crashed onto the seat across from her. Sitting next to him was the guy with untidy black hair.

The 3rd guy was tall, lean and thin. He had short, thick light brown hair, the color of wheat and green eyes. He sat down next to her. His features were sharp and well etched but there was a bit of wornness to them

And finally, the last one was short, slightly chubby with medium brown hair and brown eyes. Roselyn thought he somewhat resembled a rat, but she didn't say anything. She knew who these guys were. They were the Marauders.

They were extremely popular at Hogwarts. Girls swooned over them and tried to get close to them. She didn't know them personally, but she knew of them.

Roselyn was in Ravenclaw. She was also dressed in her robe and uniform but it had the Ravenclaw house colors of blue and bronze.

"Some 3rd years took over our compartment," the guy with untidy black hair was saying.

"It's okay," Roselyn said. "It doesn't matter to me."

They loved pranking people also. They never really pranked the Ravenclaws, but they totally pranked the Slytherins every chance they got besides fellow Gryffindors.

"Well," the guy continued. "Let me introduce ourselves. I'm James Potter, that's Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin, sitting beside you."

He pointed to each one in turn, ending with the guy sitting next to her.

Roselyn smiled. "I'm Roselyn Enders,"

"You're a Ravencrap huh?" Sirius Black asked her.

Roselyn nodded.

"Sirius," Remus Lupin said frowning beside her. "I really wish you'd stop calling them that. You even call the Hufflepuffs Huffledorks and the Slytherins Slythersnots."

Roselyn had to chuckle at that and kept her eyes on her book. After all any girl would give her wand to sit with them.

Sirius was grinning as Roselyn felt him checking her over.

Roselyn felt her cheeks flushing with color.

"Yeah well," Sirius said still grinning. "It gives me something to do."

Remus just shook his head and turned his eyes onto her. His eyes then moved onto the Potions textbook peering out from her bag. It was a copy he'd never seen before.

"Is that a Hogwarts book?" he asked curiously.

Roselyn pulled her eyes off the book she was reading and followed his gaze to the textbook.

She nodded and closed the book she was reading. She slipped it into her bag and closed the cover, but not before Remus caught a glimpse of her arm. The robe sleeve had pulled back revealing a nice black and blue.

Roselyn quickly realized what happened and hurriedly pulled the sleeve down. She realized that Sirius, Peter and James hadn't seen it as they were engrossed in conversation, but Remus had. He was watching her with concern.

"I bumped my arm on the compartment door," she muttered. "No biggie."

Remus raised an eyebrow at her. The bruise did not look like someone had bumped their arm on the compartment door but then again he always managed to fall over objects while talking to girls.

Just then, the compartment door opened and a Hufflepuff named Ryan Edwards stepped in.

"Rose? Come join us," he said. "We're at the end of the car."

"Hey Edwards," Sirius said. "Did you manage to find the bathroom alright? I thought from last year you'd end up having a repeat. Now that was embarrassing."

Ryan was the same height as Remus, but he had short, dark blond hair and azure eyes.

Ryan scowled.

"Shut up, Black," Ryan snapped. "Before I shove my wand up your ass."

"I'd love to see you try," Sirius challenged back smirking.

"Roselyn, now!" Ryan barked at her as he stepped in and roughly grabbed her arm, yanking her to her feet.

"Hey," James said looking shocked at the rough manner that Ryan had grabbed Roselyn in and Remus was stunned to see it was in the same place as the bruise.

"Mind your business, Potter," Ryan snapped.

Roselyn was standing now, but Remus saw her shaking ever so slightly.

"Roselyn, stay away from them," Ryan said coldly turning to her. "They're a bunch of arrogant, stuck up wannabe's who think they're above everyone else."

With that, he pulled Roselyn out of the compartment. Remus also saw something fall from her bag, but the compartment door slammed shut behind Roselyn and Ryan before he could alert Roselyn to the fact that something had fallen from her bag.

"God," Sirius said. "I totally want to hex that twit into oblivion."

Remus bent down and picked up the object that had fallen from her bag. It was a small butterfly clip.

"Lemme see, Mooney," Sirius said leaning forward and snatching it from Remus. "Now, this is just my style!"

He pretended to fasten it to his thick, black hair. James and Peter laughed, but Remus frowned.

"That's hers," he said quietly. "I should give it to her."

He held out his hand, palm upward and Sirius handed it back to him.

"I'll be right back," he said.

He stepped out of the compartment and into the corridor. The rocking motion of the train caused him to walk slightly drunk, but he managed to head down to the end of the car.

Students were already laughing and talking in the compartments. The snack witch would be coming around shortly.

As he approached the end compartment, he heard a sound like someone smacking another person, a girl cry out, then a guys' angry tone.

"_What were you thinking talking to them? They could've jinxed you in a minute!_"

Remus realized it was Ryan's voice. Then the next voice he heard was Roselyn's.

"_They were nice to me. They don't seem that bad_,"

Remus slowly continued to approach the compartment until he stood outside it. He saw Roselyn curled up on the bench seat against the window. The left side of her face was red and raw. Her hair had fallen forward slightly. Ryan was standing over her.

Remus cleared his throat and knocked on the compartment door. Ryan's eyes moved onto him and immediately, a look of pure disgust came across his face. He stepped over to the door and opened it.

"What do you want?" he asked rudely.

Remus' eyes slid off of Ryan and onto Roselyn behind him.

"This fell out of her bag," Remus said slowly. "I just wanted to return it."

He opened his palm and turned it upwards to Ryan, showing him the butterfly clip. Ryan snatched it from Remus' upturned palm.

"How sweet," Ryan said nastily. "Well, you've done your good deed now leave."

Remus hesitated.

"Is she alright?" he asked.

"She's fine," Ryan said firmly and snappishly. "Now LEAVE."

He slammed the compartment door in Remus' face. Remus hesitated a minute before turning and making his way back to the compartment.

When he entered the compartment, he was greeted with Sirius making a loud raspberry sound, causing James and Peter to roll with laughter.

"Remus did you give the hair clip back?" Peter squeaked looking up at Remus.

Remus took a seat, but he had a troubled expression on his face.

"What's wrong pal?" James asked seeing Remus' troubled expression.

"When I was approaching the compartment, I heard Ryan yelling at Roselyn. I think he hit her," he raised his green eyes to James'. "Plus, I saw a bruise on her arm."

"She could've bumped her arm on anything," Sirius said reasonably. "As for Edwards yelling at her, he could've just been exercising his macho attitude thinking we'd hex her. Did you see him hit her?"

"That's exactly what he was saying," Remus said. "And that's exactly what she said she did. She said she'd bumped her arm on the compartment door and no but her cheek was raw. Maybe she was leaning on it the wrong way."

"There you have it," James said. "Try not to worry, Mooney. It's really none of our business."

He turned to Sirius and Peter and began talking to them about the upcoming Quidditch game this year.

Remus looked out the window.

They were entering their 6th year at Hogwarts now. James was still trying to get Lily Evans to go out with him, but he never gave up even though Lily refused to go out with him. Sirius was the handsome one that the girls swooned over. Sirius had a girlfriend at least once a week. Peter worshipped Sirius and laughed at every joke Sirius cracked and would follow him around.

Then there was Remus. He wasn't as handsome as Sirius but oddly, girls still crushed on him. Girls said he was really cute. He'd only had one girlfriend before but it didn't last long. He wasn't ready to go any further in the relationship like she was so she dumped him finding refuge with a Slytherin.

Remus respected girls. He never mistreated them or made crude remarks to them like Sirius and James had. Naturally, since they were cute and handsome, the girls didn't care. All they did was giggle around them. Sirius called the girls 'chicks' 'babes' or 'broads'. He wouldn't be caught dead calling a girl by those names and he involuntarily shivered at the thought.

Remus was really too shy around girls. Sirius often teased him about being more comfortable around guys.

Remus would just scowl at him and threaten to bite him if he continued teasing him.

But then his mind kept showing Roselyn almost cowering in the corner of the compartment and he began wondering just what really was going on. He wanted to help her if she was in some kind of trouble. It was just his nature to want to help even though he didn't know her all that well. Something was definitely nagging at his gut saying that something was really wrong and it unsettled him. He guessed it was just his nature to be suspicious and normally, 50 percent of the time his suspicions had turned out right.

"Hello? The lights are on but nobody's home," Sirius said waving a hand energetically in front of Remus' face.

"Huh?" Remus asked snapping out of this thoughts and staring at Sirius sitting across from him.

Sirius was smirking at him.

"You're thinking of Roselyn aren't you?" he said shrewdly.

"No," Remus replied shortly.

"I bet you were," Sirius continued. "She is a hot babe for a Ravencrap."

Remus scowled at him. "I really wish you would stop referring to girls as 'babes'. It's so demeaning,"

Sirius studied him closely.

"Are you feeling okay?" he asked. "You seem a bit on edge there."

"Just nervous about the new year," Remus muttered lying. "We've got tons of work to do this year."

"We're gonna party!" Sirius cried laughing as the turned to James and Peter and picked up on the conversation again.

They reached Hogwarts. The train pulled into the station and the pistons began slowing down until the train came to a complete stop.

They left the compartment and headed toward the back, where the exit was. As Remus passed the compartment where Roselyn and Ryan had been, Remus looked in and something shiny and glittery caught his eye. He stepped in and hefted the legs to his black slacks as he crouched down. He picked up the object. It was the butterfly clip that he'd returned to Roselyn. It was crushed as though someone had stepped on it several times.

"Whatcha got there mate?" Remus heard James' voice from the compartment entranceway.

"Nothing," Remus said quickly as he clutched the clip in his palm. "I thought it was a galleon."

"Come on," James said waving to them.

Remus slipped the clip into his pocket and followed everyone off the train.

James, Sirius, Remus and Peter headed off to the castle while they watched the first years climb into the boat. They looked scared and excited at the same time.

"I say we give them a welcome gift," Sirius said grinning mischievously.

James watched Remus closely. He knew his best friend long enough to know something was bothering him. If Ryan had been hitting Roselyn that was incredibly inhuman and low. James had seen how roughly Ryan had grabbed Roselyn, hell they all had. James knew that if Roselyn was in trouble, Remus would offer to help her. The scary thing was that half of the time, whenever Remus had a suspicion it turned out to be right.

They reached Hogwarts and entered the Great Hall. The Enchanted ceiling reflected the beautiful night sky outside. Floating candles illuminated it even more. Remus, James, Sirius and Peter took their seats at the Gryffindor table. Headmaster Dippet stood in front of the students once the first years were sorted.

"Welcome back everyone," he said cheerfully. "I trust this year will be productive and you will all study as those in your 7th years will be leaving. I hope you have learned well. Now, this year there will be a Christmas Ball. Everyone above 3rd year will be invited. Now, let's eat!"

Food magically appeared on the plates and the Hall buzzed excitedly of talk of the upcoming Christmas Ball.

James glanced down the Gryffindor table and gave Lily Evans a wink. She scowled and turned her back to him. Lily often talked with Remus. They were best friends actually. He was the only Marauder she talked to, beside Peter. Remus helped himself to some meatloaf, mashed potatoes and corn. His eyes immediately moved onto the Ravenclaw table. Roselyn was sitting alone eating. She looked up and caught him watching her. She gave him a weak smile before returning to her dinner.

Once dinner was over, they headed up to the Gryffindor tower. Now Remus was sure that Headmaster Dippet had lost his mind. He'd made James Potter Head Boy. Now, Lily Evans was Head Girl. Naturally, Remus had been made a Prefect again this year. He liked the responsibility plus he'd make sure that James kept himself in line and not cause too much trouble. But then again, James plus causing trouble equals every day of every year. Remus sighed as James gave the Fat Lady the password of "Lemon Drops" and she swung open. They entered the common room and James and Sirius sat on the couch. Peter sat on the chair. The fire was crackling softly and omitted a warm, orange glow over them. Remus sat down at the desk and pulled out the butterfly clip. The others were engrossed in conversation about pranking the first years as they came in. Remus pulled out his wand and gently tapped the clip. Immediately, it repaired itself. Once it was done, he slipped it back into the pocket of his robe and pulled out a book and began reading.


	2. I Fell Down

Live To Tell

Chapter Two-"I Fell Down"

Sirius, James and Peter rolled with laughter when they pranked a unsuspecting first year by magically tying their shoelaces together so when the kid went to take a walk, he fell flat on his face.

Remus just kept his nose in the book, totally ignoring them.

Once they had their fill of pranking, they headed off to bed. Remus grew tired as well and closed the book he was reading. He slipped it into his bag and headed into the boys' dorm. He changed into a pair of flannel navy plaid pajama pants and a white tee shirt. He climbed under the covers and laid on his side. He shut his eyes and eventually dozed off into a deep sleep.

In the morning, Remus woke up to warm sunshine on his face, and someone poking him in the ribs.

"Get up, Mooney," Sirius' voice taunted. "Or else I'll lean in and kiss you."

Remus moaned and grabbed the pillow, placing it over his head.

"Come on," Sirius said as he still continued to poke him. "It's time to get num nums."

Remus snorted into the underside of the pillow and finally took the pillow off his head. He sat up. Sirius was sitting on the edge of the bed.

Remus stretched and finally got up.

"If you ever kiss me," Remus said grinning. "Remind me to take my own wand and poke my eyes out. Not to mention sanitizing myself."

Sirius gave him a cross eyed expression causing Remus to burst out laughing. Remus pulled on his robe and uniform. In pulling on his robe, the butterfly clip fell out of his pocket and landed on the floor. Sirius saw it and bent down picking it up. James and Peter had already headed down to breakfast.

"I thought you gave this back to Roselyn?" Sirius asked.

"I did," Remus said. "When we passed the compartment I found it on the floor. It was crushed as though someone had stepped on it. I picked it up and repaired it last night."

"You told us you thought it was a galleon," Sirius smirked knowingly at him.

"It's no big deal," Remus insisted.

"Relax," Sirius chuckled. "I won't tell James or Peter."

"You won't tell them what exactly?"

"That you've got the hots for Roselyn," Sirius answered simply and bluntly.

"I don't!" Remus protested. "I just simply fixed her hairclip! God Sirius you read too much into simple things."

"Yeah," Sirius said coyly. "But sometimes it's the simple things that lead to more."

"Ugh," Remus said as he snatched the clip from Sirius' hand and put it back into his pocket. "I'm going to return the clip to her and that's it okay?"

He headed out of the dorm room and headed down to the Great Hall. Sirius watched him leave with a smug expression before he too, followed Remus down to breakfast. Remus took a seat next to Peter and began helping himself to some crumpets and porridge. Sirius took a seat across from him and also began helping himself to food.

Their first class didn't begin until 9:00, so that left about 45 minutes for Remus to nab Roselyn and return the clip.

She was already sitting at the Ravenclaw table, talking to a girl with shoulder length dark brown hair and azure blue eyes

Roselyn had remembered the concerned look on Remus Lupin's face when he'd returned the clip on the train. Ryan had naturally been rude to him and slammed the compartment door in his face and been furious with her for sitting with them in the first place.

Roselyn didn't think the Marauders were all that bad. Remus certainly seemed sweet to return a hair clip like that. Roselyn had been dating Ryan for 3 years now. There were times when he'd get angry at her, but some times it was her own fault. But yesterday sitting with the Marauders, Roselyn didn't think much of it and that he might've over-reacted.

Sure they've been known to prank other houses as well as members from their own, but they never intentionally harmed anyone. Her best friend, Alex Rivers talked non-stop about the Marauders and how handsome they were. She was good friends with Lily Evans and got to spend some time around them. She thought Sirius was 'hot'.

Roselyn had caught Remus watching her last night and she'd given him a watery smile, incase Ryan was watching. Remus had smiled back then turned his attention onto his meal.

Alex saw this and decided to ask her about it now.

"So," Alex said grinning at Roselyn, her azure blue eyes twinkling. Her shoulder length dark brown hair was pulled into a ponytail. "I saw Remus Lupin was watching you last night."

"Yeah so?" Roselyn said shrugging as she helped herself to some crumpets. "He returned my hair clip to me yesterday on the train as it fell from my bag."

Alex continued to grin.

"I think he's hot," she said dreamily as her gaze shifted to the Gryffindor table. The Marauders were talking amongst themselves.

"You also think Sirius is hot," Roselyn pointed out.

"They're all _hot_," Alex corrected her. "I'd love to be on a date with either of them."

"Well, forget James," Roselyn replied. "He fancies Lily. That leaves Peter, Remus or Sirius but you're dreaming. They would never ask girls like us out. They want pretty, dumb girls. Not ugly, smart girls like us. Besides, I'm already taken. I've got a boyfriend remember?"

"Hey," Alex protested. "I'm not ugly and neither are you and no I hadn't forgotten."

Her tone hardened at the last four words and Roselyn looked at her startled.

"Rose, Ryan's a good guy, I'll give you that…but there are times when he gets angry that he takes it out on you," she said softly and quietly studying Roselyn with concern and worry.

"Sometimes it's my fault," Roselyn said. "I get him angry."

Alex went to reply, but the bell rang and Roselyn gathered her things up and told Alex quickly that she was heading to the library and she hurried out of the Hall.

She entered the library and took a seat at one of the tables next to the window. The window was opened slightly and a cool September breeze blew in ruffling her auburn hair and the edges of the parchment that she was taking notes on. She had pinned some of the hair back with a barrette and some of the shorter strands had come loose and hung down against her shoulders. Her coffee colored eyes roamed over the paragraphs of the Transfiguration textbook that lye opened in front of her on the desk. She crossed her legs under the table and was completely immersed in the book, not realizing that Remus Lupin had also entered the library.

Remus spied Roselyn sitting at one of the tables near an opened window. He cleared his throat and gathered up the courage, cursing the nervousness he felt whenever he had to talk to a girl. He headed over to her and he stood next to the table. He placed one hand palm down on the table and reached into his pocket with his other hand and placed the butterfly clip directly at the top of the Transfiguration textbook.

Roselyn raised her eyes to the clip, then to him.

"Where'd you get that?" she asked quietly.

"I-I found it in your compartment," Remus stammered. "I-It looked crushed so I fixed it for you."

Roselyn's eyes filled with gratitude and shock.

"Thank you," she said quietly. "You didn't have to do that."

Remus just shrugged as if to say 'No big deal'.

Roselyn had to admit she was deeply touched at Remus' gesture and never in a million years expected something like that to come from one of the Marauders. But then again, Alex always said Remus was different from Sirius, James and Peter. Alex told her about this one girl that had gone out with Remus in their 5th year, last year. The girl wanted to take the relationship to the next level, but Remus hadn't been ready so the girl dumped him and went out with a Slytherin.

"Sit," Roselyn said gesturing to the empty chair across from her. She closed the textbook and slipped it back into her bag then she gave Remus her undivided attention.

"So," she said brightly. "Are you sad to see Hogwarts go at the end of this year?"

She was also in her 6th year and knew she'd miss Hogwarts terribly next year when she graduated.

Remus nodded.

"Yeah," he admitted. "But I'm thinking of becoming a teacher, maybe teach Defense Against the Dark Arts here."

"That's great," Roselyn said eagerly. "I'm not sure what I want to do yet. I'm still deciding."

Remus smiled. "You've got a bit to go yet. I'm sure you'll come up with something,"

Roselyn flashed him a grin before picking up the butterfly clip and putting it into her bag.

When she raised her eyes again, the color drained from her face as her eyes were locked on the library entrance.

Remus picked up on this and followed her gaze. Ryan was standing there. He strolled into the library and roughly grabbed Remus by the arm and yanked him from the seat.

"I told you to stay away from her," Ryan snarled his eyes flashing angrily.

"I can talk to her if I want," Remus said coldly. "There's no law against talking is there?"

"Leave," Ryan spat as he shoved Remus.

"Ryan don't…" Roselyn protested standing up.

"Shut up," Ryan rasped to her.

"Don't talk to her like that," Remus said sharply as Ryan pushed him toward the entrance again. "And stop shoving me."

"I can talk to her anyway I want," Ryan said icily. "It's none of your fucking business."

With that, Ryan managed to shove Remus completely out of the library before turning to Roselyn.

"_I thought I told you to stay away from them!_" Ryan shouted to her.

"He was just returning something," Roselyn said.

Ryan grabbed Roselyn's arm and bent it back, causing her to cry out in pain.

"STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM THEM!" he snarled as he finally released her arm and stormed from the library.

Roselyn's body was shaking as she looked at her arm. A bruise had formed again. She sighed and gathered up her things as the bell rang, signaling the start of class.

That morning she had Charms with the Gryffindors. She entered the classroom and took a seat next to Alex. Across from them, the Marauders were whispering to Remus, who was angry.

Alex saw the bruise.

"Again?" she asked quietly.

"Huh? Oh no," Roselyn said quickly as she took out her supplies. "I fell down in the library."

Alex regarded her skeptically but shook her head nonetheless. Professor Carin entered and the lesson began.

"He shoved me out of the library and you should've seen the way he talked to Roselyn!" Remus was hissing at James, Sirius and Peter.

"What a git," Sirius said shaking his head. "A nice girl like Roselyn doesn't deserve to be treated that way."

"Remus, I'm beginning to think that you're right about him," James said gravely turning his blue eyes onto Remus. They had a sullen and shocked look behind the thin black-rimmed glasses.

Remus sighed.

"I'm also beginning to think that he _did _hit her in the compartment," he said seriously. "Remember I thought I heard a noise like a 'slap'."

James looked up.

"You didn't tell us that! Why not?" he asked sounding surprised, but not accusing.

"Because I didn't want to say anything incase I was wrong," Remus said reasonably. "I still don't know if I'm right."

"Well, from the way you described Ryan's behavior today in the library, I certainly wouldn't be shocked," Sirius replied.

Remus just sighed and took out his supplies, placing them on the desk. He dipped his quill into the ink bottle and wrote his name at the top of the parchment. He raised his eyes to the Ravenclaw side. They had class with them first, then the Slytherins.

Roselyn was whispering to the girl with the dark hair. Remus thought her name was Alex. She was best friends with Lily and hung around the Marauders a few times, but Remus had naturally been busy reading and didn't really pay much attention. Alex caught him watching and gave him a big grin.

Remus smiled back but moved his eyes back onto Roselyn.

"Remus Lupin is looking at you," Alex said as she gave him another grin.

Remus just lowered his eyes to the parchment.

"He seems sweet," Roselyn said as she too took out her supplies. "But Ryan doesn't want me talking to them."

"Is Ryan your boss?" Alex demanded. "He doesn't have a right to dictate to you who you speak to."

"It's not that," Roselyn said sighing. "I don't want him to get angry."

"Right," Alex said bitterly. "He could 'accidentally' throw you down the stairs."

Roselyn went to reply but the teacher came in and began the lesson.

Once class was over, Roselyn headed out before the Marauders. Alex saw Remus and the rest of the Marauders hanging back, slowly packing their belongings. She hoped she was doing the right thing but she was worried about her best friend.

She cleared her throat and headed over to them.

"Hey guys,"

"Hey Alex," Sirius said flashing a flirty grin to her.

"Hi Alex," James said softly. "What's up? How's Lily doing?"

Alex grinned. "Lily's fine," she said. "But I need to talk to you guys. It's about Roselyn."

Her expression and tone turned serious.

At that, Remus' head shot up and his ears pricked up.

"What about Roselyn?" he asked keeping his eyes on Alex.

Alex exhaled. "I'm sure you're all familiar with Ryan right?"

They nodded.

"Well," Alex said slowly. "First, promise me you won't say anything. To Roselyn OR Ryan."

"We promise," The Marauders said in unison, Sirius holding up two fingers as if "Scouts Honor".

Alex nodded. "Well, whenever Ryan gets angry, he takes it out on Roselyn,"

"You mean verbally right?" James asked, as they all hoped for that reply to be yes, but then again their guts were nagging them.

"Both," Alex said seriously. "He hits her and he verbally says mean things to her."

They exchanged looks of horror and anger.

"So he did hit her on the compartment," Remus said quietly.

Alex nodded. "Probably," she said. "I've tried to get her to leave him, but she's terrified because she doesn't know what he'll do to her. I'm afraid that one day he's going to go over the edge and wind up hurting her or…"

Alex's voice trailed off.

Sirius could see Alex was genuinely concerned. He stepped forward and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry," Sirius said earnestly. "We'll help her. She seems to have taken a liking to Remus so we can probably get her to open up to him."

Alex smiled gratefully. "Thanks guys," she said relieved and left the classroom.

Remus was completely stunned. He looked to James, Sirius and Peter. They too, had an expression like they were blown away. Remus finished putting his things away and they headed out of the classroom.


	3. Karma

Live To Tell

Chapter 3-Karma

As they left the classroom, they saw Ryan talking with a few of his buddies. They were laughing and joking around. That only caused Remus' blood to boil. He went to turn to Sirius when in a blur Sirius dropped his bag on the floor and lunged straight for Ryan.

Sirius stood in front of Ryan, drew back his arm and punched Ryan right in the face.

Ryan almost went down but one of his buddies caught him and set him on his feet again.

"Black," Ryan spat as he spat a small wad of blood from his cut lip on the floor. "What is your problem?"

"You," Sirius retorted angrily. "Cold hearted bastard."

The Marauders glared at Ryan as Ryan lunged for Sirius in retaliation. This caused Remus and James to defend Sirius. The rest of Ryan's buddies tackled James and Remus while Sirius and Ryan fought.

One of Ryan's friends kneed Remus in the groin, causing him to double over in pure pain, gasping for air.

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?" a voice cried.

They stopped fighting long enough to see Lily, Alex and Roselyn standing there.

Immediately they let go of one another.

"Black started it," Ryan gasped. "He just came at me."

Roselyn went over to Ryan and put her arm around him comfortingly.

"Why would you do that?" Roselyn asked Sirius angrily.

Alex gave Sirius a warning look and Sirius hesitated before replying.

"I need anger management," he said finally. "And because I don't like him."

Lily snorted. "It's just like you macho pigs to start a fight. And you wonder, Potter, why I won't go out with you,"

"It's only a matter of time, Evans," James said sweetly. "You will."

"Ugh," Lily said disgustedly. "I'd rather chew off my own foot."

Remus finally managed to stop the throbbing knife like pain searing through his body and groin to stand upright now and he went to approach Roselyn, but Ryan stepped in between them.

"I think you're hard of hearing," Ryan hissed. "Didn't I tell you to stay away from her?"

"It's up to her to decide who she talks with," Remus said coldly, his green eyes flashing and Roselyn was not sure but she thought an amber arc formed around his iris. "You aren't her boss."

Ryan punched Remus in the face.

"Stop!" Roselyn screamed.

James and Sirius once again defended their best friend.

"KNOCK IT OFF YOU LOT!" Professor McGonagall's stern voice boomed.

She pulled Remus, James and Sirius off of Ryan. Remus, James and Sirius were badly beat up but it was nothing compared to Ryan considering he had three against one.

Remus had a black eye and a cut lip which was bleeding. He quickly wiped the blood from his lip with the sleeve of his robe. Sirius had a bruised cheek and his robe was tousled. James' glasses were askew and his robe was torn in several places. He also had a black eye and a bruised jaw.

Ryan's robe was torn, he had a cut lip, a bruised eye and a black and blue jaw.

"What are you thinking?" Professor McGonagall demanded. "I'm surprised at you, Mr. Lupin. I'd expect these two to be doing this sort of thing, but not you."

She jerked her thumb toward Sirius and James. Remus didn't care at this point. He wanted to make Ryan pay for what he's done to Roselyn.

"You lot have detention with me for a week," she said firmly. "And Mr. Edwards, you too."

James, Sirius and Remus moaned at the thought of having to spend detention with Ryan.

"You should've thought of that before you started fighting," McGonagall said shrewdly. "I don't even want to know the reason."

She walked off. Roselyn helped Ryan down the corridor. Lily just shook her head and followed. Alex turned to them.

"That was really close," she hissed. "I told you not to tell!"

"We didn't," Sirius said honestly. "We just punched his lights out. There's no rule that says we can't hit _him_."

"Give him a dose of what it feels like," Remus said bitterly as he watched Roselyn leave. "Maybe now he'll think twice about hitting her."

Alex smiled at him.

"Now why couldn't she have met someone like you?" she said softly. "You're really sweet. I'm sorry that girl dumped you for the Slytherin. She was mental."

Remus felt his cheeks flushing pink with embarrassment.

Alex headed off as well.

Roselyn helped Ryan to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey helped Ryan. She sat on the edge of the cot.

"Now you see why I don't want you hanging around them," Ryan said briskly to Roselyn.

"What started it?" Roselyn inquired.

"I dunno," Ryan replied. "That crazy asshole just up and punched me."

Roselyn fell silent. Alex had told her that Sirius may flirt a lot with girls and have lots of girlfriends, but the one thing she emphasized is that none of the Marauders EVER treated the girls violently or that they never did anything without a good reason.

Roselyn had to admit maybe Sirius did it for a good reason. But what?

"You don't agree with him do you?" Ryan demanded eyeing her.

"Of course not!" Roselyn said forcing a shocked expression on her face. "Why would you even think that?"

Ryan didn't reply for a moment before he finally did.

"Cause I see the way Lupin looks at you," he said venomously. "He's got a thing for you."

Roselyn just shook her head. "We only talked twice," she said sincerely. "Besides, you don't want me talking to them. So I'm not."

But deep down, Roselyn had to admit, Remus Lupin was sweet and she remembered the fact that he fixed her butterfly hair clip.

The Marauders entered the hospital wing next.

Ryan shot them daggers and they shot daggers right back at him.

Roselyn's eyes traveled to Remus. He had a cut lip which was bleeding, a black eye and his robe and uniform were tousled.

She felt a rush of guilt and remorse for Remus as Ryan had been the one who punched him. Remus limped over to a cot and sat on it.

"More? What are you kids doing these days?" Madam Pomfrey asked.

"Trying to take out trash," Sirius said meaningfully glaring at Ryan.

Ryan went to lunge for Sirius again but Roselyn held him back. He angrily shoved Roselyn away from him, causing her to fall off the cot and land on her hands and knees. Ryan stormed out of the hospital wing.

Ignoring his own pain, Remus got up and immediately went over to her. He hefted the pants legs up to his slacks as he crouched down. He gently put his hands on her arms, just above the elbow. At his touch, he felt her body shake slightly as he helped her to her feet.

Roselyn felt Remus' touch on her arms just above the elbow. His touch was soft, gentle and not harsh and abrupt like Ryan's. She tucked her hair behind her ears and cleared her throat.

"Thanks," Roselyn said.

She found that after a few minutes of his touch, her body stopped shaking and she oddly felt relaxed now. His touch seemed soothing and calming.

"Are you alright?" Remus demanded anxiously, keeping his eyes on hers.

"Yeah," Roselyn said nervously brushing the hair from her face as she smoothed out her robe and uniform.

Remus took his hands off her arms and Roselyn silently found herself wishing he didn't. Remus studied her closely with his green eyes.

"You sure?" he prodded gently. "Cause you can tell me anything. I'm a good listener."

"He is," Sirius offered and the others nodded in unison.

"I'm fine," Roselyn snapped. "Please leave me alone alright?"

With that, she turned and left the hospital wing.

Remus looked after her before turning to the rest of his best friends.

They just looked at him helplessly.

Once James, Sirius and Remus were patched up, they headed back to the common room. Peter sat in the chair while the others sat on the couch.

"Why is Ryan doing this?" Remus demanded angrily kicking at the desk. "What could possibly motivate him to want to hit someone like Roselyn?"

"Because he's a pod," Sirius replied smoothly. "Pod people aren't humans…they're aliens."

Peter chuckled.

James looked at Remus.

"Mooney pal, there's really nothing we can do," he said quietly and softly. "Roselyn has to see for herself that she's in danger. She has to want to be helped but I think she's blind right now. I think what she needs is a friend."

Remus nodded. Oddly, when he was around Roselyn, he wasn't nervous. He found he was able to relax and not trip over things.

The last time he'd tried to talk to a girl, he ended up falling over his own school bag causing the girl to burst out laughing.

It had been a total disaster. He only hoped that Roselyn could be his friend, without the interference of Ryan.

Alex caught up with the Marauders later on that afternoon during their lunch break. They were sitting outside under the large oak tree, enjoying the warm sunshine that filtered down warming up the grass and causing the lake to shimmer like little diamonds. The giant squid lazily stretched across the surface.

Alex sat down in front of them. Remus, as usual was reading a book. The others were laughing and talking about the upcoming Christmas Dance.

When Alex sat down, James, Sirius and Peter looked up.

"Hey Alex," James said brightly. "What's up?"

Alex smiled.

"Not much," she said. "Roselyn's helping Ryan put ice on his boo boos."

She added the last part mockingly.

Sirius chuckled.

"That's too bad huh?" Sirius said mockingly.

Alex nodded, her eyes twinkling.

"Most definitely," she said. "Are you lot going to the Christmas Dance?"

"Of course," James said as if she'd asked him if he breathes air. "What about you?"

Alex shrugged.

"I'm not sure," she answered honestly. "No one asked me last year so I spent the night in the girl's dorm playing the Muggle game "Twister" with Tina Howes."

Alex saw James shiver. Tina Howes was a fellow Ravenclaw. But she was a little bit chubby and guys often teased her about her weight. Alex liked the girl though. She had a nice personality and she was a good person.

"Hey," Remus said shortly also seeing James shiver. "Tina's got a nice personality. She's a nice girl."

"So ask her to the dance then," James said smugly smirking at him.

"I just might," Remus retorted holding chin up.

"Anyway," Sirius interrupted. "How come no ones asked you?"

He kept his eyes on Alex.

Again Alex shrugged. "I'm not sure," she said with half wistfulness and half sadness in her voice. "Maybe guys just don't like me."

Sirius snorted. "Psssh, why not? You're pretty and nice,"

Alex blushed.

"How about you come with me?" Sirius said brightly.

Alex's heart beat faster and she knew she was blushing furiously.

"Really?"

Sirius nodded.

"Great," Alex said. "I'd like that."

She then turned to Remus.

"Listen," she said quietly. "I know for a fact that Roselyn uses the Room of Requirement for some quiet time when she reads. If you want to talk to her she goes to the room around 8 o'clock, just after dinner. Ryan is usually on the Quidditch pitch getting some late night practice in. So you'd have a whole hour and a half to talk to her."

Alex got up and grinned at Sirius before heading back to the castle.

They'd almost forgotten that Ryan was also part of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team. They would be playing him in the upcoming semester game.

"Perfect," Sirius grinned. "The perfect way to beat the snot out of him, James."

James rolled his eyes.

"He'll get what's coming to him," James replied. "It's Karma. He'll get what he deserves mark my words."

Remus continued to read oblivious to the conversation now as talk shifted to Sirius' plans for the dance.

Remus wondered if he wanted to go, but then he remembered how he'd retorted about asking Tina to the dance. He liked her too. She was nice and had a great personality if people got over the ridiculous issue of her weight. Frankly, Remus didn't care about her weight.

James and Sirius often went for looks first, personality second. Remus however did the opposite.

He wanted someone that had a good personality, a good sense of humor and liked him for him then if the girl happened to be cute or pretty, then it was all good. But looks were not important to him.

Remus continued to read his book. His Prefects badge caught the sunlight. It was pinned just above the Gryffindor embroided crest on his robe.

His tie was neatly tied at his throat and tucked into the neckline of the V necked sweater vest. He left his robe opened, exposing the hem of the sweater vest and the waistband of the grey slacks. His wheat colored hair reflected the sunlight making it almost seem golden.

He suddenly looked up from his book and saw Ryan and Roselyn walking across the grounds. James, Sirius and Peter looked up and Remus saw them watching them closely. Remus didn't realize he had a low growl rumbling in his throat until Sirius gently snapped his fingers in front of Remus' face. Remus snapped to attention. He blinked several times and looked down at his book. His fingers had slightly shredded the cover and back cover of the book he was reading.

Roselyn was walking with Ryan. She saw the Marauders watching her and Ryan. Remus was sitting next to Sirius. He looked like he was reading a book. Roselyn caught Remus' gaze and they held it for a while.

Roselyn briefly felt her heart flutter and Remus' heart did too but that was before Roselyn felt a strong whack across her back causing her to fall forward face down on the grass. Blackness swallowed her up.

Remus had been reading his book when he heard James swear.

Remus looked at James curiously. James had an enraged expression on his face and Remus realized so did Sirius and Peter.

"What's going on?" Remus asked frowning as he suddenly got the feeling to follow their gazes.

He followed their gazes and caught just in time the most sickening sight that he'd seen in all his life.

Ryan had kicked Roselyn with his foot so hard it caused her to fall forward onto the grass. She laid face down in the grass with her cheek pressed against the dirt. She wasn't moving.


	4. The Protectors

Live To Tell

Chapter 4-The Protectors

Remus slammed his book shut as they leapt to their feet and began heading toward Ryan and Roselyn.

"This is none of your business," Ryan hissed at them, taking out his wand and aiming it at them.

"On the contrary," James said coldly. "It is. See, she's a friend of Alex's and Alex is a close friend of ours so technically, Roselyn is our friend too. And we despise seeing her being treated like shit."

James, Sirius and Peter had all taken their wands out and were aimed at Ryan now. Remus carefully and slowly sank to his knees, not caring about getting his slacks dirty and muddy. He gently reached forward and placed a hand on Roselyn's neck, feeling for a pulse.

Much to his overwhelming relief there was one.

"She's okay," Remus said breathing a sigh of relief as he sat back on his heels. Roselyn's auburn hair fluttered in the gentle breeze, the only part of her that was moving.

"Get away from her," Ryan snarled at Remus. "I see the way you look at her. Don't think I don't know what you're imagining."

Remus looked at him startled.

"I only want to be her friend," Remus said honestly. "You're way off."

Ryan snorted. "I bet,"

He kicked Roselyn in the ribs next causing her body to roll over onto her back against Remus' knees.

"Stop kicking her," Sirius hissed angrily.

Ryan continued to kick her.

"Worthless bitch," Ryan snarled. "Never could do anything right."

Remus' blood began boiling again. Roselyn's body jumped with each kick until James had enough and tacked Ryan to the ground.

James began punching Ryan again, not caring that he knew if he got caught, there'd be more detention time added to his already, but he was only interested in making Ryan pay.

"Take her to the hospital wing," Sirius instructed Remus. "Peter go with him. We'll take care of Ryan."

Remus hesitated for a moment, wondering what exactly they were going to do to Ryan, but then he bent down and carefully picked up Roselyn, carrying her into the castle. Her head was resting against his shoulder and he had one arm under the backs of her knees and one arm under her back supporting her. Her legs dangled over his arm and her arm dangled over his wrist. Peter was right beside him. Remus could smell the strawberry shampoo she'd used earlier.

Roselyn momentarily regained consciousness only to realize she was being carried by Remus. Remus and Roselyn's faces were inches apart when Remus realized she'd momentarily woke up before she blacked out again.

Remus nervously sat beside Roselyn's cot in a chair. He was leaning forward with his elbows resting on his thighs and his hands were clasped between his knees. He was nervously chewing on his bottom lip. Peter was sitting on an empty cot also worried.

"She'll be fine," Madam Pomfrey said soothingly. "Just a couple of bruised ribs and a bruised spine. Nothing serious. She'll be out of here in a few days."

Remus breathed a sigh of relief. Roselyn was sound asleep, sleeping peacefully. Remus gently pulled back the sleeve of her robe on her left arm, exposing the bruises that Ryan had given her.

"Where on earth did she get those?" Madam Pomfrey cried alarmed.

"Her boyfriend," Remus said dryly and bitterly. "Ryan Edwards."

Madam Pomfrey shook her head.

"The poor dear," she said quietly. "I'm going to have to issue a ban on Mr. Edwards visiting her. You, Mr. Pettigrew, Mr. Potter and Mr. Black will be allowed in as well as Miss Rivers."

Remus nodded.

Madam Pomfrey put a hand on Remus' shoulder before heading out of the hospital wing.

Shortly, Alex came running into the hospital wing.

"Is she alright?" she cried looking upset.

Remus immediately stood up and faced Alex. He spoke in a soothing, calm tone.

"She's fine," Remus said softly. "There are just a couple of bruises."

Alex's eyes had tears in them.

"This is the lowest thing Ryan's ever done," she said as her lip quivered. "I knew it was only a matter of time before he tried something like this. Thank God you were there to help her."

Remus just blushed and shrugged as if to say 'No big deal', but before Remus could stop her, Alex gave him a hug.

Remus awkwardly patted her and she released him. Soon, James and Sirius followed and they came into the wing.

"Thank you guys for being there," Alex said as she hugged Sirius and James and then Peter.

They were completely touched and modest, muttering "It was nothing" and "He was a jerk".

Alex wiped the tears from her eyes and inhaled deeply.

"What did you guys do to Ryan?" Remus asked cocking an eyebrow at them.

Sirius and James looked at each other.

"Let's just say, he won't be hitting girls anytime soon," Sirius said shiftily.

Remus was a bit worried as to what they did to Ryan, but on the other hand he was glad because he deserved it.

"What's going on?" Roselyn's groggy voice cut into their thoughts.

Alex grinned and rushed over to her, throwing her arms around Roselyn and hugging her tightly. Roselyn hugged Alex back, but then looked at the Marauders standing around her cot.

"What happened?" Roselyn asked curiously.

"Ryan kicked you in the back then continued to kick you when you were down. He kicked you so hard in the back that it momentarily cut off your senses," Alex said. "Rose, you've got to see now that Ryan's no good! He could've killed you!"

"And you did nothing this time," Alex went on angrily. "All you did was look at them and Ryan flipped out! But it was never your fault to begin with!"

Remus sat down on the chair again beside Roselyn's cot.

"Remus carried you up here," Alex said. "He and the Marauders saved your ass. You need to thank them."

"It's nothing," James muttered staring at his shoes.

Roselyn raised her eyes. There were tears in her chocolate brown eyes.

"Can I talk to Remus alone please?" she asked quietly.

"Sure," Sirius said softly.

He pulled James and Peter out, and Alex went with him. As soon as they left the hospital wing, Roselyn turned to Remus.

"Thank you, Remus," she said quietly. "For helping me."

Remus shrugged one shoulder.

"It was nothing like James said," Remus said shyly.

Roselyn sat up right and faced Remus.

She burst into tears. "I'm so scared, Remus! I want to leave Ryan but I don't know what he'd do to me!"

Tears streamed down her cheeks.

"He can be really violent," Roselyn continued to sob. "He broke my arm 3 years ago when we first started going out. He twisted it back."

Remus flinched.

He got up and sat down on the edge of the cot, next to her.

"Listen," he said softly. "You're more than welcome to stay with us okay? We won't let anything happen to you…I won't let it."

Roselyn smiled. Remus returned it and realized she had a nice smile. He'd never been so scared in all his life when he saw Ryan kicking her like a piece of garbage.

Remus put a hand on her arm gently, but at his touch, he felt her stiffen.

His heart wrenched. Now, it seemed Roselyn would flinch at any guys touch, even though Remus could never, ever be like Ryan.

After a while, at his touch, she seemed to calm down but her guard was still up.

"It's okay," Remus said quietly. "Why don't you get some sleep okay? We'll check in on you later."

Roselyn nodded and smiled before she settled back down on the cot and with her back to Remus and the blanket and sheet pulled up to her shoulder, she was soon dozing off.

Remus left the hospital wing and headed to find James, Sirius, Peter and Alex in the Gryffindor common room.

"I promise I won't give the password out," Alex said earnestly.

Remus nodded and he took a seat on the chair.

"How was she?" Alex asked eagerly.

"She's fine," Remus reassured her. "But when I put a hand on her arm, I felt her stiffen."

"Well sure," Alex said. "She was afraid that you'd hit her. She's completely wary of guys now even though I know you lot would never do that."

Remus looked at Alex.

"Of course not!" Remus said outraged. "I can't believe Ryan even would DO that in the first place!"

"He's a pod," Sirius said. "I told you."

Alex burst out laughing.

"I think he's more than a pod," she laughed.

They all had a good laugh making fun of Ryan, whom Remus had to admit he was nervous that he still hadn't seen him even at dinner.

Sirius pointed Tina out to Remus.

"Go ask her," Sirius instructed putting his palms flat on Remus' back as he pushed him toward her. "You said you would."

Remus tried to think of a protest, but it was too late. Tina saw him and immediately, her cheeks flushed with color.

Remus glanced back over his shoulder at James, Sirius and Peter, who were watching intently. He turned his eyes back onto Tina.

"Hi," Remus said shifting his weight onto the other foot. "I'm Remus. I'm in your Herbology class."

"Oh," Tina said as she still blushed. "Yes. I know who you are. I'm Tina."

Remus nodded and dug the toe of his black shoe into the floor of the Great Hall.

"I was wondering if you hadn't been asked, if you would like to go to the Christmas Dance this year with me?"

Tina's cheeks were a shade of crimson, but then her expression changed.

"This is a joke right?" she demanded.

"Huh?" Remus asked surprised by her sudden change in attitude.

"The Marauders put you up to this didn't they?" she asked shrewdly. "They thought it would be good if you asked out lil' ol' fat me to the dance."

Remus was bewildered and when he turned to look at James, Sirius and Peter, he gathered by their expressions, so were they.

"What? N-No," Remus stammered.

"You guys are jerks," Tina spat as she slapped Remus before continuing out of the Hall.

Remus stood stunned as his cheek stung from where Tina had slapped him and he turned around and headed back to James, Sirius and Peter.

"Whoa," James said as his blue eyes were wide behind his glasses. "She's feisty!"

"Sorry pal," Sirius said apologetically. "We thought she would've accepted…even though this wasn't a joke."

Remus was still in a daze as they headed back to their common rooms for the night.

Remus climbed into bed and fell into a troubled sleep.

The next morning, they headed down to breakfast. Roselyn was still in the wing she'd be released tomorrow.

Professor Dumbledore and Headmaster Dippet both thought it was a good idea that Roselyn and Alex stay with the Gryffindors. James had told them what had happened. Apparently, they'd glued Ryan's legs together and his arms using a binding spell. He was found lying on his back outside the castle.

Naturally, James had done such a good job that it took Madam Pomfrey a good 3 hours to try and unglue Ryan.

James had threatened him that if he told who glued him, he'd drown him in the lake. So when Madam Pomfrey asked Ryan who had done this, Ryan just muttered something about a spell backfiring. Ryan realized that the Marauders meant business and decided to back away.

Roselyn was released a few days later and her things had been sent to Gryffindor tower.

Lily had brightly welcomed both Roselyn and Alex and said that if they ever needed anything not to hesitate to ask her or let her know.

Roselyn was sitting in the common room, just curled up on the couch reading. Alex was sitting at the desk working on the latest homework assignment for Potions.

She felt a lot safer now with the Marauders around her. They were like her protectors now.

Remus, James, Sirius and Peter entered the common room that evening after dinner. Sirius immediately headed over to Alex.

James and Peter sat down on the love seat section that was across from the couch. Remus took a seat next to Rose.

"How are you feeling, Rose?" Sirius asked softly.

Roselyn smiled and looked up from the book she was reading.

"I'm feeling okay," Roselyn said softly and gently. "But my sides still ache when I take a breath in."

James nodded sympathetically.

"Where's Ryan?" Roselyn asked curiously and lightly. "I haven't seen him all day."

"Let's just say I doubt he'll be hurting a girl anytime soon," James said deadpan.

Roselyn looked at him startled but amused.

"You kiddies behave," James said winking at Remus. "We're gonna take a walk."

He and Peter got up and left the common room.

Roselyn turned to Remus next.

"Thank you again," she said quietly. "I don't know what I would've done."

Remus shrugged again.

"Really, it's no big deal," he said modestly. "But can I talk to you for a bit?"

Roselyn nodded.

"Sure,"

"Well you know Tina right?"

Roselyn nodded again.

"She slapped me earlier because she thought I was asking her out to the dance as a joke, but I wasn't. I genuinely meant it," Remus said bemused.

Roselyn listened.

"I gather you want me to talk to her right?" she asked grinning.

Remus nodded this time. "If you wouldn't mind? I didn't mean to upset her or anything like that,"

Roselyn smiled.

"Sure," she said sincerely. "I'll talk to her tomorrow okay?"

Remus beamed.

"Excellent. Are you gonna go to the dance or skip it? Cause if you skip it we'd totally understand,"

Roselyn sighed and exhaled loudly. "I'm not really sure. I can't think right now I'm still trying to process what Ryan did to me. It still can't believe he did those things. I was so blind all these years. But I guess I was just scared that if I left him, he'd hurt me badly or that I would ever find someone that loved me like that."

Remus cocked an eyebrow up at her.

"Anyone who treats you like that doesn't really love you," he said genuinely. "To him you were probably a piece of property with whom he thinks he could do anything to. But you're not. You're a person. Someone with feelings and not to mention you're pretty."

He felt his cheeks blushing furiously at that. "You don't deserve to be treated that way…no girl does,"

Roselyn smiled.


	5. I'll Change

Live To Tell

Chapter 5-"I'll Change"

"That's sweet," Roselyn said to Remus softly. "Why couldn't I have met someone like you a long time ago?"

Remus just smiled.

"I like Tina," Remus continued. "I'd hate for her to think that I'm like Sirius and James, only interested in flirting and getting down girls' pants."

He was surprised at himself for saying that so bluntly, especially to Roselyn, but she didn't flinch or laugh at him.

"I know," Roselyn said softly. "But you're not and I think the best way to do that is to try and talk to her again. Or would you like me to do it like we originally said?"

Remus thought. "I think it would be best if you did it," he said finally. "Maybe kind of spread the word to her that I'm not like Sirius or James."

Roselyn nodded.

"Absolutely," Roselyn said softly.

They talked for a little bit more before it was time to head to bed.

Roselyn felt much safer in the Gryffindor tower. Lily assured her that there was no way that Ryan could get in.

Alex talked to Rose and Lily about Sirius and how she was actually surprised that he was caring and sweet.

Lily of course insisted that James was showing his true colors and constantly refused to go out with him.

Roselyn just listened intently as they spent a good part of the night talking about girl stuff until they finally dozed off.

In the morning, Roselyn woke up to warn sunshine on her face and quickly got dressed. Alex too had woken up, but Lily had already gone down to the Great Hall.

Roselyn spied Tina sitting with her friend Lindsey Paris. Lindsey had long blond hair and blue eyes. She was actually what the guys called the "Ravenclaw beauty". All the guys wanted to go out with her and they wondered why she hung around the 'pig' Tina. Roselyn spied Ryan sitting with the Hufflepuffs and immediately felt her body tense up. Sirius saw this and threw Ryan a warning look. Ryan quickly turned his attention back to his breakfast and didn't turn around once.

Roselyn flashed Sirius a relieved look before sitting beside Tina.

Tina's shoulder length dark brown hair was pulled into a ponytail. She had small diamond stud earrings in her ears. She had applied a little bit of makeup too. Roselyn found that Tina was actually quite pretty.

"Hi Rose," Tina said looking at her with remorse and sympathy. "I'm so sorry about Ryan."

She dropped her voice to almost a whisper on the last sentence. Apparently, word had spread around about what happened with Ryan and what the Marauders had done to him.

"Thanks," Roselyn said softly. "Listen, I heard Remus Lupin asked you to the Christmas Dance?"

Tina's eyes glittered dangerously. "Yeah. I slapped him because it was more than likely a joke. James and Sirius probably put him up to it,"

Roselyn shook her head.

"No they didn't," she said earnestly. "Remus actually wanted to take you."

Tina's expression held its skeptism but then the color drained from her face when she realized that Roselyn was telling the truth.

"He-he wants to take me?" she said slowly.

Roselyn nodded.

"Of course!" she exclaimed brightly. "Why not?"

Tina looked down at her plate sadly.

"Well, for starters," she began quietly. "I'm fat, ugly and most of the guys wouldn't be caught dead with me on a date or anything resembling that."

Roselyn looked at her startled.

She really wanted to hex every guy in the Hall at this point for being so arrogant and close minded.

"Tina," Roselyn began softly and gently. "I doubt Remus cares about that. He told me himself that he likes you. He hates to think that you think he's like James or Sirius. He's not like them. He only cares about the personality first, then looks and frankly, I think you're quite pretty."

Tina blushed at this. "Really? No one put you up to it?"

Roselyn shook her head. "You've got to stop being paranoid," she said. "No one put me up to this. I'm speaking the honest to God truth."

Tina hesitated before she moved her eyes onto the Gryffindor table. Roselyn followed her gaze to see Remus watching anxiously.

"He does seem sweet," Tina said at last. "Okay. Tell him I'd be delighted to go with him."

Roselyn nodded and grinned. She got up from the Ravenclaw table and headed back to the Gryffindor table.

She sat down across from Remus and continued to grin at him.

"You're in," she said. "Tina says she'd be delighted to go with you to the Christmas dance."

Remus positively beamed and happily joined in on the conversation with Sirius and Peter. James studied Rose. When Remus looked happy that Tina wanted to go with him, he caught what he thought was a little bit of jealousy in Roselyn's expression. But as quickly as it appeared it vanished.

He knew she'd probably need a lot of time before even consider going out with another guy. Not after what that prick Ryan did to her.

Roselyn continued to eat her breakfast.

Roselyn felt James studying her. When she raised her eyes to meet his, he grinned and gave her thumbs up before returning to the conversation.

She wondered if he'd seen that little twinge of jealousy, but Roselyn shook herself. She wasn't ready to date yet and Remus was a good friend. That was it.

Besides, Tina needed someone like Remus. He wasn't arrogant, stuck up or flirtatious. He was the perfect gentleman. Roselyn had only known him for a few days, but she was able to read people quickly. He was smart, mysterious and down to earth. Traits that are relatively hard to find in guys. Well, not so much the down to earth and smart end, but those that were 'mysterious' turned out to either be dating someone on the side while dating her or they were so smart they were arrogant. She'd even wondered if some of them weren't into guys.

She'd had lousy luck with guys since the 4th year. The guys turned out to be deadbeats, snobs, or a little scary to be exact. Then, she'd met Ryan…and well that turned out to be even worse than the first guys.

Remus sensed Roselyn was deep in thought so he leaned close to her.

"Earth to Rose?" he said softly.

He was speaking directly into her ear, causing her to jump slightly.

"Sorry," Remus apologized looking upset that he'd scared her.

"It's fine," Roselyn said shrugging. "I was just thinking of what a loser I am. I've dated some real winners and Ryan takes the cake."

Remus looked at her shocked.

"You are not a loser," he said firmly. "You've just been dating the wrong guys that don't deserve you."

Roselyn flashed him a smile.

"Thanks," she said quietly. "If you'll excuse me, I've got History of Magic now. I'll see you guys later okay?"

Roselyn left her breakfast untouched and gathered up her bag and she left the Hall leaving a confused Remus.

Remus, James, Sirius and Peter didn't see Ryan get up from the Hufflepuff table and slip out of the Hall after Roselyn.

Roselyn was heading down the corridor and didn't hear Ryan coming up behind her until he'd grabbed her arm and spun her around to face him. She quickly yanked her arm from his grip.

"What do you want?" she demanded coldly.

"I want you to come back to me," Ryan said. "Look I'm sorry I hit you. That was wrong."

"You really hurt me," Roselyn said quietly. "Both physically and mentally. I'm not sure if I want to go back with you."

"Please?" Ryan pleaded. "I promise I'll change."

Roselyn just stared at him and prepared to answer…

Back in the Great Hall, Peter suddenly just happened to glance toward the Hufflepuff table.

"Guys? Ryan's gone," he squeaked out.

Their laughter died down as all 4 of them now fixed their gaze onto the Hufflepuff table.

"Where's that prat go?" James demanded.

Sirius suddenly had an awful feeling and it seemed to spread to the others like a silent virus.

"Roselyn," they said in unison and flew from the Gryffindor table.

Alex watched them leave and looked after them curiously.

Ryan was holding her arms as Rose struggled to break free of his grip.

"LET ME GO!" Roselyn screamed.

"Not until you promise to come back to me! I will change!" Ryan insisted.

"RELEASE HER RIGHT NOW," James' voice bellowed from the end of the corridor.

Roselyn looked up and saw James, Remus, Sirius and Peter standing there with their wands aimed at Ryan. Remus' eyes were narrowed into slits. His Prefects badge caught the sunlight that poured in through the opened archways and it made his wheat colored hair almost seem amber.

"Look," Ryan said mockingly. "It's her bodyguards."

"Let her go right now," Sirius ordered angrily.

Roselyn continued to struggle against Ryan's grip.

"He said 'release her'," Remus snarled.

Ryan grinned and threw her to the ground. She landed on her hands and knees at the Marauders feet.

"Perhaps you'd like another Binding Spell?" Sirius challenged threateningly.

"You honestly think you can get away with treating her like that and we won't say anything?" Remus growled angrily at Ryan. "You treat her like SHIT!"

"I'm sorry and I hope you can forgive me," Ryan pleaded. "I had asked her if she would take me back."

Remus wasn't buying his fake apology for one minute and he only hoped Roselyn was smart enough not to fall for it also.

James helped Roselyn to her feet.

"And I said 'no', Ryan," Roselyn said firmly, standing close to James. "You acted like that once what makes me think you won't do it again?"

Remus felt a rush of pride toward Roselyn and was glad that she finally came around to see just how horribly Ryan treated her.

Ryan took a step toward her, but the Marauders took a step toward him, with their wands still aimed at him.

"Because I realized what a jerk I've been," Ryan pleaded. "Please Rose."

Roselyn moved her eyes onto Remus, whose eyes were locked on Ryan. His green eyes were narrowed into slits at this point and he had a stone cold expression on his face.

She moved her eyes onto each of them. Sirius expression was basically the same as Remus'; James had a look of pure dislike on his face and even Peter was scowling at Ryan. Her eyes landed back on Remus.

This time, Remus felt her watching him and he moved his eyes onto hers. She saw his expression soften but it was also filled with hopefulness and concern. Remus returned his eyes back onto Ryan and the cold look returned in a flash.

Roselyn looked at Ryan.

"I said no," Roselyn said finally. "It's over between us…for good. Don't even talk to me or come within 5 feet of me."

"Damn right," Sirius added icily. "Or else we'll shove our wands up your asses."

"Don't think you're getting away so easily," Roselyn said coldly to Ryan. "I plan on telling every single girl of each house what a creep you are. You'll never get a date again. Let's see how you like _me_ making _your_ life miserable for a change."

"Be gone, pod person from hell," Sirius snapped.

Ryan sulked away. The Marauders slipped their wands back into their robes and turned to Roselyn.

"You okay?" Sirius asked concerned as he put a hand on her shoulder.

Roselyn's body tensed up at his touch and immediately Sirius pulled his hand off.

"I'm sorry," he apologized looking upset.

Roselyn smiled. "It's fine Sirius," she said softly. "It's not your fault. You didn't do anything to me. Let's say we head back to the Great Hall huh?"

They all nodded and returned to the Hall.

Their first class of the day was History of Magic. They had it with the Ravenclaws again, but Roselyn and Alex had Charms so Tina and her best friend entered the History of Magic classroom and took their seats.

Remus, James, Sirius and Peter entered next. Lily took her seat in her usual spot and began talking to Tina.

"There's your girlfriend," Sirius teased Remus, prodding him in the ribs.

Remus' cheeks flushed with color and embarrassment.

"Hey Tina," James called across to her.

Tina's eyes met his and she raised an eyebrow at him warily and skeptically.

"What?" she asked in a monotone.

"There's something you need to know about Remus," James continued. "He's got a stash of 'protection' packets hidden in hidden in his dorm."

The class burst out laughing, picking up immediately on what James had said. Remus' face turned even more crimson. Tina looked confused for the moment until a scowling Lily whispered in her ear the clarification.

"Yeah," James continued. "He thinks he's gonna score Christmas."

"James," Remus hissed angrily at him. "That's enough."

Tina's face turned a shade of crimson as some catcalls and whistles went around.

"POTTER YOU IN SUFFERABLE JERK!" Lily yelled at him. "YOU ARE SUCH AN ARROGANT, GLACIER, RUDE, HELIUM DRIVEN, MORONIC DICK!"

Now the class was laughing at Lily's retort causing James to scowl and turn pink with embarrassment this time and annoyance.

Tina just grabbed her belongings and tore out of the classroom, leaving an angry Remus, who also gathered his things up and hurried out into the hall after Tina. He could still hear Lily throwing James insults.

"Tina wait!" Remus called to her finally catching up with her.

Tina whirled around to face him and Remus was surprised to see tears in her eyes.

"Obviously this isn't a good idea," she said as her voice quivered. "Me going with you to the dance. I wouldn't want to go with you because you feel sorry for me."

"But that's not the reason," Remus insisted. "I'm going because I like you remember?"

"Yeah," Tina said as a tears slid down. "But not at the cost of Potter harassing us. It's making you look bad too. You definitely are sweet but I'm sorry. I don't think it's a good idea."

With that, she turned and continued down the Hall.

Remus, feeling crestfallen and upset himself, decided to head back to class. He slid into his seat with a temper just as Professor Aris entered and began to teach the lesson.

When class was over, Lily brushed past James, jostling him as she stormed down the hall, her auburn hair billowing out behind her.

"Someone's thong is too tight," James muttered staring after Lily.

"I don't blame her," Remus snapped to James. "I'm frankly pissed at you as well."

James looked at him.

"I did you a favor, Mooney," he replied sullen and silkily. "Why on earth would you have a crush on that cow?"

Remus was gripping the strap to his bag so tightly that his knuckles were white.

"Because she's not like you," Remus retorted angrily. "She CARES about people's feelings. She doesn't JUDGE people by their outward appearance. Perhaps that's why?"

Remus didn't wait around for James to reply. Instead, he headed back to the Gryffindor common room for the 20 minute morning break.


	6. Bad News

Live To Tell

Chapter 6-Bad News

Remus entered the Gryffindor common room to find Roselyn sitting on the couch with her legs tucked out to the side.

Her hands were clasped around a piece of parchment and her eyes were locked on it, and they were almost glazed over. Tears were brimming in her honey brown eyes. She hadn't even seen Remus come in. Remus immediately forgot about his anger toward James and wanted to make sure that Roselyn was alright.

He dropped his bag on the chair and briefly forgot about his anger. He sat down beside her and the minute his thigh touched her foot, she snapped out of the stupor and jumped startled.

"Oh," Roselyn said quickly wiping the tears. "Sorry Remus. I didn't hear you come in."

"Is everything alright?" he asked her concerned, keeping his eyes on hers.

"Yeah fine," Roselyn lied as she slipped the paper into her bag and got up. "I'll be right back okay?"

Before Remus could reply she headed out of the common room.

Remus' curiosity was getting the better of him. He knew he shouldn't do this, but she had seemed totally upset and he wanted to know if something had happened. He easily reached down and carefully pulled the parchment out of Roselyn's bag. He sat upright and opened the folded parchment. His eyes quickly scanned the letter:

**_Dear Roselyn,_**

_**I'm writing to you to bring you unfortunate bad news. Your father has passed away. He had been killed in the line of duty. One of the Death Eaters cornered him and threatened him that if he didn't call off the attack, he'd find you and kill you. Your father told him to go a head and kill him instead of you. So the DE obliged. I'm so sorry, honey. I know how hard this must be for you. But be rest assured that you will be able to remain living with me. There's no problem with that. Next year though, you will be on your own. I'm not sure what your future plans are, but I want you to know that I will be here for you if you ever need me. Also, Sam and I will be moving Christmas to Manchester. I'd hate to ask you to remain at Hogwarts until we've finished moving, but at least I know you'd be safe for now. I'm so sorry Roselyn again. **_

_**XOXOXOX**_

_**Aunt Jenna**_

Remus read this and he suddenly heard the portrait entrance open.

"What do you think you're doing?" Roselyn's angry voice sliced through the air.

Remus jumped from being startled and turned to face the portrait entrance. Roselyn was standing there with her arms folded over her chest and her honey brown eyes were filled with anger and tears.

The others were standing behind her looking shocked and confused.

"Err," Remus began frantically searching for the words. But as he looked at Roselyn's face, he realized he couldn't lie to her so he took a deep breath and went to reply, but she stepped toward him, and snatched the letter from his hand. Her face was inches from his own as she got right into his face. Remus felt heart was hammering in his chest.

"How _dare_ you go into my personal stuff!" Roselyn hissed at him.

Remus felt incredibly guilty now as he stared into her eyes.

"Hold on a minute," James interrupted. "Remus would never do that. It probably fell out of your bag and he picked it up."

Roselyn turned to James.

"And he just happened to read it right?" Roselyn scoffed. "Please."

"Remus didn't do it alright?" Sirius retorted firmly. "We know him better than you."

Roselyn's honey brown eyes flashed dangerously.

Remus sighed.

"She's right guys," he said quietly. "I did go into her bag."

Roselyn turned to Remus with the anger and surprise on her face.

"What?" James asked shocked.

Sirius, Peter and Alex were speechless.

"Why would you do something like that?" Sirius demanded irritably. "You've just made us seem like morons!"

"That wasn't that hard, trust me," Roselyn muttered rolling her eyes.

"Hey," James said defensively and angrily.

Roselyn was still watching Remus. She couldn't believe he'd do something like this. This was expected from either Sirius or James but not Remus.

"Look," Remus said turning to Roselyn and avoided eye contact with James or Sirius. "I'm really sorry. I shouldn't have done that. You have every right to be angry with me."

Roselyn just stood with her arms crossed over her chest and she was chewing on her bottom lip.

Remus couldn't take it anymore and he brushed past her and left the common room and decided to head to the library.

Roselyn watched him go. She knew he didn't mean it, but she wanted to know WHY he did it.

"I can't believe Mooney," Sirius was saying as they all sat down on the couch. "He would never do something like that. What's come over him?"

"Dunno," James said shrugging one shoulder.

Alex took a seat next to Sirius and gave her a superior smirk, like she knew something but wasn't going to say anything before turning her eyes back onto Sirius, James and Peter.

Roselyn exhaled and turned to leave the common room.

She knew exactly where he would be and headed to the library.

Remus was sitting at a table near one of the windows. It was opened and a gust of cool September air blew in, ruffling his wheat colored hair. He had his arms crossed on top of the table and his chin was resting on his arm. He just sat, staring into space. He had no idea what was coming over him lately. He'd been acting strangely, not himself and the full moon wasn't until next week.

He felt totally guilty and rotten for going into her bag like that, but she'd been upset and he wanted to try and help her, to see why she was so upset.

He saw Roselyn enter the library out of the corner of his eye. She came over to his table and sat down beside him, turning her chair toward him so she faced him.

Roselyn placed the parchment on the table and then leaned forward, her elbows resting on her thighs.

"Why'd you do it?" she asked quietly.

Remus heard the change in her tone. It was quiet, soft and curious.

"Because you were upset," Remus grumbled. "I wanted to know why you were upset and thought maybe I could help you. But I shouldn't have gone into your bag like that. That was wrong."

Roselyn exhaled and sighed again.

"So you know," she said quietly.

Remus unfolded his arms from the top of the table and faced her now. Their faces were still inches apart.

"Know what? That your father was killed? Yeah. I'm really sorry about that. I know what it's like. My Mum died several years ago. It's just me and my Dad,"

Roselyn's eyes filled with sympathy and tears again.

"That and the fact that now I'm an orphan," she said. "You see, 5 years ago, my Mum was killed in a Muggle plane crash. She'd been flying from London to Paris when something happened with the fuelselage and it crashed. It had been me and my Dad at that point. Dad worked for the Ministry of Magic as an Auror. They were going after Kevin the 'Killer' Morgan, and well you read what happened. Dad was holding information on Morgan on his whereabouts and the Death Eater wanted it."

Remus looked at Roselyn.

"I'm really sorry," he said quietly.

Roselyn's tears spilled over and they streaked down her cheeks.

"My Mum's Aunt had been so good to me after Mum died," Roselyn said as her voice shook violently. "Dad allowed me to stay with her while he worked the long hours at the Ministry. But now it looks like I've got no home."

Roselyn burst into tears and just brought her hands up to her face as she sobbed into them.

Remus wanted so badly to put his arms around her and comfort her, but he wasn't sure if she'd let him, considering what happened.

But he decided to try anyway.

Remus scooted closer to her on his chair and he easily slipped his arms around her shoulders gently drawing her into his embrace.

Much to his pleasure and surprise, she allowed him to and leaned into his embrace.

Remus drew her into a tight, but gentle hug. Roselyn pressed her face into Remus' chest. Her tears were dampening his tie and sweater vest, but he didn't care. Remus also felt her arms slowly encircling him as well. She held him tightly too and just sobbed.

He guessed it was all the years of built up anger, frustration and hurt over Ryan and what he did. Now, getting the news that her father had been killed and she was technically an orphan now, just added onto that emotional strain.

Roselyn's arms tightened around Remus' midsection. She was shocked at the fact that she allowed him to hug her. But as she had leaned into Remus' embrace, she found that she liked being held by him. His embrace was soothing and comforting. She just pressed her face into the front of Remus' robe and uniform as she sobbed.

Remus just let her cry. He didn't interrupt her or anything.

After what seemed like several minutes, Roselyn realized what she did and quickly pulled back from the embrace.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," she apologized quickly. "I got the front if your robe and uniform wet from the tears."

Remus smiled.

"It's fine," he said dismissively. "I won't melt."

She chuckled and Remus found that she had a nice laugh.

She quickly wiped her eyes with her index finger and inhaled deeply.

"Well, I'm set to head back," Roselyn said brightly. "What about you?"

Remus nodded and immediately, he felt the anger return over what James did.

Roselyn and Remus headed back to the Gryffindor common room. Alex looked up at her as she entered. The bell rang, signaling the start of the next class. Remus, ignoring James, grabbed his bag and turned and left the room in a hurry.

Roselyn noticed this and as she and Alex left too, she turned to James.

"What's wrong with Remus?" she inquired. "Why's he upset?"

"James said some rude things in class before," Sirius clarified. "He namely told Tina that Remus had a stash of 'protection' packets hidden and that he was going to score with her on Christmas."

Roselyn glared at James.

"That's disgusting," she commented. "No wonder Remus is mad at you. I would be too. You should go apologize to him."

Roselyn left the common room too.

Alex and Rose had classes with the Marauders next. After classes were over, Roselyn decided to head to the Room of Requirement.

She knew Ryan would be at Quidditch practice along with the Gryffindors. James was the Seeker for the Gryffindor team.

Roselyn entered the Room of Requirement. She had changed out of her robe and uniform and was now wearing a blank tank top with spaghetti shoulder straps and a pair of flannel, navy plaid pajama pants. On her feet were white socks that reached her ankles.

She normally just enjoys this as a room to read in where it was comfortable. A comfortable looking couch was in there as several rows of bookshelves filled with every book that was similar to the library.

Roselyn scanned the spines of the books on the nearest shelf, and finding one that looked good, she reached up and pulled it from the shelf. She sat on the couch and just laid on her back with her legs dangling over the arm of the couch. Her hair was fluffed on the pillow. She propped the book up on her abdomen and began reading the first page.

A few minutes later, the door opened and Roselyn grabbed her wand, sitting bolt upright and aiming it at the door.

"Freeze or I'll hex you," Roselyn ordered.

"Roselyn, it's me," Remus' voice said from behind the partially opened door.

Roselyn felt her body relax and she lowered the wand.

"Come in," Roselyn said softly.

Remus pushed open the door and entered. He closed the door behind him.

"What on earth are you doing here?" she asked sounding curious and amused. "Who told you I was here?"

"Alex," Remus replied right away.

Roselyn just shook her head but she was grinning.

Roselyn realized Remus was in a pair of grey jogging pants and a white tee shirt that kind of hugged his upper body nicely. He wasn't very muscular but he had a nice body.

Roselyn pressed her face into the opened book, hoping her cheeks weren't flushing with color.

"Are you alright?" Remus' voice cut through her thoughts.

Roselyn quickly lowered the book from her face and cleared her throat.

"Yeah," she said quickly. "Why did you come here? Not that I'm mad or anything."

Remus smiled.

He'd seen her briefly blush.

"I-I just wanted to ask you something," Remus began nervously. "I-I just wanted to ask you if you'd like to go with me to the Christmas Dance? We can go just as friends of course."

He added the last part quickly.

Roselyn smiled.

"That's really sweet," she said quietly. "But I'm not really ready to go out just yet. I need some time to recuperate from Ryan. I hope you understand. I'm not turning you down or anything…it's just on hiatus."

Remus nodded, completely understanding.

He flashed her a grin.

"Sure," he said sincerely. "I'll be heading back to the common room okay?"

Roselyn nodded and watched him go sadly. She didn't want to hurt him because he was such a sweet, great guy. But she wasn't really ready to go out just yet. She returned to her position on the couch and continued reading.


	7. This Means War!

Live To Tell

Chapter 7-"This Means War!"

Roselyn still felt like she'd torn off Remus' left arm and that caused her not to be able to concentrate on reading.

The door opened again.

"What is it, Remus?" she called to him.

There was no reply.

"Remus?" she called again.

"It's not Remus," a voice said coldly.

Before Roselyn could jump up, Ryan burst into the room and got on top of her, pinning her down on the couch.

"Let me up!" Roselyn shouted squirming underneath him.

"Where's your 'protectors' now?" Ryan smirked as he clamped one hand over her mouth to stifle her screams of protest.

Ryan tried to force himself on her, as he tore down her pajama pants leaving her in her bikini style underwear.

Roselyn was still screaming and sobbing, trying to fight him off. Roselyn finally bit Ryan on his hand, causing him to take off his hand and curse.

This bough Roselyn a few seconds to let out a high pitched scream.

Remus had just turned the corner when he heard a high pitched scream coming from the Room of Requirement, where he'd left Roselyn.

He About-Faced and flew back to the room. He burst into the room to find Ryan on top of Roselyn, trying to force himself on her. Her pajama pants were around her ankles and Ryan had clamped a hand over her mouth stifling her screams and cries of protest.

Roselyn saw Remus and felt immediate relief.

Remus went over to Ryan and pulled him off of Roselyn. Remus punched Ryan sending him crashing into one of the bookshelves. Remus didn't care at this point if he was expelled or suspended.

Ryan was knocked out. Remus rushed over to Roselyn as she was frantically pulling up her pajama pants. Once they were up, Roselyn stood up and felt her body trembling so violently.

Remus put his arm around her shoulders and she just collapsed into his arms as he helped her back to the common room.

As soon as they entered, immediately, James, Sirius and Peter wanted to know what happened.

When Roselyn told them, Sirius and James flew from the common room and Peter followed soon behind.

Alex sat down beside Roselyn and she slumped against her, bursting into tears. Alex wrapped her arms around Roselyn and just held her.

Remus knew that this was it, that he'd be expelled for sure. But as he looked at Roselyn, he knew that was a good price to pay.

The next morning, Headmaster Dippet called them into his office.

The Marauders stood before the Headmaster in a single line, like a lineup. They all faced him. The Headmaster regarded each of them.

"I'm disappointed in you lot," Headmaster Dippet said quietly. "Especially, you, Mr. Lupin. You've never been in trouble in 6 years. I was shocked to learn that you punched Mr. Edwards first."

Remus just hung his head. He felt remorse, but mainly that he was going to probably more than likely get expelled from Hogwarts. He had no remorse about hitting Ryan though.

"He was only trying to save me, Headmaster," Roselyn's voice cut in from the doorway.

Sirius, James, Peter and Remus raised their heads. Roselyn was standing at the entrance to Headmaster Dippet's office. She was still dressed in the tank top and flannel PJ bottoms. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail. Some of the shorter strands had come loose and hung down against her cheeks.

"He was only defending me, sir," she said as she stepped into the office and stood on Remus' right side, beside him. "Ryan was trying to force himself on me and Remus saved me. Please don't expel them. They've been helping me since they found out about how Ryan was hitting me. They became like my body guards."

Roselyn glanced at each of them in turn affectionately. She knew and realized that everyone had the measure of them all wrong. The Marauders were GOOD people. Sure James and Sirius were arrogant at times, but they risked getting expelled the first time, hence only to beat Ryan up again, practically sealing their fate this time.

Headmaster Dippet sighed.

"They repeatedly got into fights though," he said gravely. "They broke the rules twice. Mr. Edwards has been dealt with accordingly."

Roselyn exhaled.

"If you expel them…you can expel me,"

Headmaster Dippet was touched at Roselyn's offer and so were the Marauders. Remus looked at her shocked, but then he moved his eyes onto Headmaster Dippet.

Much to their surprise, Headmaster Dippet's gray eyes twinkled.

"I see you have true friends," he said smiling. "You're not going to be expelled, however you will have another weeks detention on top of the one you already have. You're dismissed."

They left the office and headed back to the common room. It was late now and Roselyn knew that once they hit the Gryffindor common room she was going to be bombarded with questions and thanks.

Sure enough, as soon as she stepped into the common room, Sirius, James and Peter all threw her huge 'thank you's' and they all sat around the fire. Alex was sitting with Sirius and they were talking low.

"That was really amazing, Roselyn," Peter squeaked out. "To stand up for us like that. No one has ever done that before."

Roselyn shrugged. "It's no biggie. Besides, you lot were there to protect me when Ryan started his crap. It was the least I could do,"

Sirius gave Alex a kiss on her cheek before getting up and heading over to Roselyn. He leaned in and gave her a kiss on the cheek too then headed into the boys' dorm. Rose felt her cheeks flushing with color. James grinned and winked at her before he too, followed. Peter next, leaving Alex, Roselyn and Remus alone in the common room.

Alex threw Roselyn a glare before getting up and heading into the girls' dorm.

Roselyn looked after her confused.

She turned to Remus.

"I just wanted to thank you for helping me," she said quietly. "I don't want to know how far Ryan would've gone."

Remus shrugged one shoulder.

"He obviously is a pod person," he said deadpan. "Tonight was proof. I'm wondering if his mother ship is calling him yet?"

Roselyn burst out laughing.

Remus grinned. He liked the sound of her laughter. It was like music to his ears.

"What's with Alex?" Roselyn mused curiously.

"I don't know," Remus replied frowning.

Around 10 o'clock, Roselyn yawned.

"I'm heading to bed," she replied as she got up. Remus did too.

"Thanks again," she said smiling at him. "I really appreciated it."

As she passed him, she gently reached up and gave his arm an affectionate squeeze before heading into the girls' dorm.

The next morning, Roselyn ate breakfast with the Marauders. Alex was throwing her daggers for some reason and Sirius was being really friendly toward her.

Remus watched the scene and realized that Sirius was beginning to like Roselyn and Alex liked Sirius. Technically they weren't dating, so it was really open and free.

He felt a pang of jealousy, but shook his head. Roselyn could never like someone like him. He changed into a monster once a month, plus she was way too beautiful for him. He was lucky that she was best friends with him. That was as far as their relationship was going to go.

Lily was sitting with them and seeing Remus' expression, she leaned in close to him.

"I know that look," she whispered at him.

Remus looked at her.

"What look?" he asked.

"The look of someone crushing on Roselyn," she said silkily.

Remus chuckled and reached for his glass of pumpkin juice.

"I think you were dropped on your head," Remus said. "Roselyn's my friend."

Lily smirked. "Riiiight," she said slowly. "And I see the way you look at her. I'm not blind. Give it some time though. She's definitely not ready to date just yet."

Remus snorted.

"Why on earth would she date me?" he muttered. "Like I said, we're just friends."

Lily just smirked knowingly at him before returning to her breakfast.

After breakfast, they headed to class.

Roselyn was sitting with Alex. Behind them were Sirius and Remus; James and Peter and then Lily and another Gryffindor named Lauren Chambers.

Roselyn pulled out her parchment, ink bottle and quill and she dipped her eagle feather quill into the ink bottle and wrote her name at the top of the parchment.

Sirius leaned forward and gently prodded Roselyn in the back with his index finger. Roselyn turned around.

"What?" she asked curiously.

"Can I borrow your ink bottle a second?" Sirius asked.

Roselyn frowned.

"Yours is right there," she gestured to the ink bottle on his desk. "Why do you need mine?"

"Pleeease?" Sirius pleaded giving her puppy dog eyes.

Roselyn rolled her eyes and carefully picked up her ink bottle and handed it to Sirius.

"Thanks," he grinned at her.

Alex was scowling. Roselyn saw this and looked at her.

"What's wrong?" Roselyn asked leaning toward her. "Why are you upset? You've been pissed off since this morning. What's going on?"

"Sirius is totally flirting with you," Alex whispered back heatedly. "He likes you! He was asking me whether or not you'd ever give him a shot."

Roselyn stared her completely bemused.

"But I saw him give you a kiss on the cheek," she said frowning. "I thought for sure he'd like you."

Alex smirked.

"He just kissed me on the cheek 'cause he was flirting. It didn't mean anything. But he told me he likes _you_," Alex said emphasizing the word 'you'.

"So that makes you angry that he likes me?" Roselyn asked.

Alex slammed her fist down on the table, causing everyone to look up shocked and scandalized.

"_I_ like him!" she hissed to Roselyn. "You knew this."

Roselyn exhaled.

"Firstly," she said coldly now. "Does he know you like him? No right? So how on earth is he going to know? He's not a mind reader. You have to TELL him."

"You're flirting back with him!" Alex whispered angrily. "You're giving into his hints!"

"Have you lost your mind?" Roselyn demanded. "Is that brain of yours deprived of oxygen? I just had Ryan beating the crap out of me! I'm not ready to date yet!"

"Just like you," Alex said coldly. "Getting everyone to feel sorry for you then you go and snatch your best friend's guy. Typical. Well, Roselyn Elizabeth Enders, this means war."

With that, she grabbed her things and stormed out of the classroom.

Remus had overheard everything due to his heightened hearing. Sirius was oblivious to what had got said, as he was talking with James and Peter behind him.

Remus moved his eyes onto Roselyn.

She was looking after Alex completely angry and confused, but when her eyes landed on his, her expression softened and she turned back around.

The lesson began.

When the lesson was over, Sirius pulled Roselyn aside and Remus had to admit, Sirius really liked Roselyn. He'd known his best friend since 1st year, and knew him well enough to pick up the tell-tale signs.

He knew that Sirius wouldn't push Roselyn because of what happened with Ryan. Still Remus had to admit he was feeling a bit left out. James fancied Lily; Sirius like Roselyn now and where'd that leave him? Tina didn't want to go out with him because of the taunts from James and Sirius and probably anyone else in the school.

Sighing, he headed to the library. It was the only place that seemed to calm him whenever he was upset.

He entered the library and spied Alex, sitting at one of the tables. Her arms were crossed on top of the table and her head was buried in them. Her shoulders trembled as he realized she was crying. The nervousness crept into his chest as he approached her.

He cleared his throat and sat down across from her.

"Are you okay?" Remus asked concerned.

Alex raised her head. Her azure blue eyes were red, puffy and blood shot. She sniffled and wiped her eyes with the back of her hands.

"Yeah," she muttered. "I just realized Roselyn was right on one thing."

Remus tilted his head.

"What thing?"

"That someone like Sirius could never like me," Alex muttered. "Naturally he'd go for Roselyn. She's pretty."

"So are you," Remus said looking stunned.

Alex just gave him a watery smile.

"How is it that you don't have a girlfriend?" Alex asked. "I'm totally confused and mystified."

Remus blushed and felt the heat creeping into his cheeks and up his neck.

Remus just shrugged. "I'm not sure really," he answered. "Maybe I just didn't find the right girl. I want someone whose gonna like me for me. You know what I mean?"

Alex nodded.

"Yeah," she replied.

Suddenly, Alex got an idea. Her eyes twinkled.

"How about you and I go out?" she asked. "I mean I know it's a bit fast, but we've known each other for a while right?"

Remus felt his pulse quicken.

His mind flashed him Roselyn's face and he felt sad a little, not understanding WHY he was feeling that way, but he was.

Here, a girl just asked him out. He wasn't sure if it was a pity thing or she genuinely liked him.

"Relax," Alex said. "It's not a pity date."

Remus exhaled and nodded.

"Sure," he answered at last.

"Great," Alex grinned broadly at him.

To Remus' surprise, Alex got up and kissed him.

He was stunned at first, but then kissed her back.

Roselyn's mind was whirling around. Sirius had just told her that he liked her, a lot and that he understands that she isn't ready to date just yet, that he'd wait for her until she was comfortable again.

When the group met up again for dinner, Alex told everyone that she and Remus were going out.

Sirius let out a 'whoop' and slapped Remus on the back. Remus sat, turning every shade of crimson known to man.

Alex was whispering to Lily. Roselyn felt herself twitch involuntarily at the thought and when Remus raised his eyes to hers, she pushed her plate away, leaving the food untouched as she got up and left the Hall.

Alex saw this and was smiling as she was talking to Lily.

Remus looked after Roselyn concerned.


End file.
